Gang-Related Dispute May Have Led To Teenager Being Shot on a City Bus

Detectives are questioning a 16-year-old boy who they believe was responsible for firing the bullet that killed a 14-year-old girl on Saturday as she rode a city bus home from a Sweet 16 party in Queens, officials said Thursday.

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D'aja Robinson, Facebook photo

New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly described the boy as a "person of interest" who investigators believe killed D'aja Robinson accidentally in the midst of a gang-related dispute.

A law-enforcement official said a witness identified the suspect as the shooter who pumped nine bullets into a Q6 bus at about 9 p.m. Saturday at Sutphin and Rockaway boulevards in South Jamaica. D'aja, who police said wasn't the intended target, was struck once in the head and died.

The killing sent waves of grief through the community and brought a series of tips to the NYPD.

On Tuesday, police officers on patrol were approached by a witness who claimed to know the identity of the shooter and identified him as a 16-year-old member of a street crew called the Snow Gang, the official said.

The witness, who also attended the Sweet 16 party at Onyx Lounge, was able to pick the suspect out of a photo array, the official said.

The suspect was among a group recognized by the witness as members of the Snow Gang as they walked toward the bus, according to the account cited by the official.

That group began arguing with another group of young men on the bus, who the witnesses identified as members of a rival crew called the Wood City Crew.

Later, the witness told investigators the suspect pulled a dark-colored firearm from his waistband and began firing at the bus before fleeing, the official said.

The suspect was taken into custody by police Thursday morning. Word of a possible arrest quickly spread through D'aja's neighborhood, bringing some sense of relief to her grieving friends and relatives.

Karen Tucker, a cousin, said an arrest would "bring solace, because [the suspect] could kill again."

"If you only knew the beauty of this girl," she said of D'aja, who will be memorialized at a funeral on Friday.

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